Elongated wooden posts are commonly buried partway in the ground to provide support for various structures (small building frames, mailboxes, fences, bird feeders, clotheslines, etc.). It is known to add structure to the lower end of the post, engaging the ground or buried in the ground, for greater stability.
U.S. Patent Application No. US 2015/0225919 A1 to Wagler discloses a footing assembly for a vertical post in post-frame building construction, the footing assembly comprising a post rail assembly slidably disposed within an elongated bridge member.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,984,587 to Odle discloses a ground stabilizing apparatus for fence posts and the like, comprising a central ground support collar to which a plurality of radially extending stabilization arms are attached, distributing force on the post to a large area near the surface of the ground around the post.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,762,674 to Ortega discloses a signpost base receptacle for releasably mounting a signpost in a concrete pad, the receptable being substantially larger than the base of the signpost and recessed in a concrete pad with its top substantially flush with ground level. A rotatable shaft with eccentric cams engage a movable clamping plate to selectively engage the base of a signpost placed in the receptacle.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,603,547 to Hills discloses angle adjustable post support tubes pivotally attached to a base plate that can be buried in the ground, especially for supporting the angled post legs of an outdoor playground swing set.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,549,259 to Calle a footing device for a structure, the footing including a reinforcing member with a base plate extending in a first direction and a leg extending in a second direction, with a sleeve defining a cavity for receiving the leg, a portion of a fence post, and an anchoring material for securing the leg to the structure.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,236,665 to Glass discloses a bracket for mounting a mailbox, with a pair of substantially identical upper and lower plate members each having surrounding walls and a plurality of open housings or sockets projecting from the plates and interconnected by reinforcing ribs. The sockets have interior vertical splines, and elongated posts are engaged in aligned pairs of the housings and frictionally locked thereto by the splines. The lower plate member is embedded in the earth along with portions of the posts, and a mailbox is secured to the exposed upper plate member.
U.S. Patent Application Publication No. US 2014/0077046 A1 to Borowiak discloses a mailbox mounting system for mounting a mailbox to an upstanding post. The system includes a plate with a sleeve extending downwardly from the lower surface of the plate, the sleeved adapted to matingly receive the upper portion of the post. Interior ribs in the sleeve fittingly secure the post within the sleeve to mount the plate on the post. The upper surface of the plate supports the lower surface of the mailbox. Elongated support brackets are provided to mount multiple mailboxes transversely to the long axis of the plate. The manner of mounting the lower end of the post in the ground is not addressed in this application.
The prior art devices above lack the combination of simplicity, ease of installation, and ease of removing and replacing a post from the buried stabilizing structure that would make them truly convenient for home owners when mounting posts in their yards.